Plant Talk

New Green Wall and Modern, Inviting Plaza at Boren & John Streets

This is the best green wall I've ever seen - of course, it's brand new. But so was the green wall at the Goodwill in Tacoma when I visited a couple of years ago (I need to check back on that -  have any of you seen it lately??).

The green wall in Tacoma was created by the famous French vertical designer Patric Blanc, and it wasn't as colorful and texturally varied as this vertical garden on a quiet corner in the South Lake Union neighborhood, just off Denny Way. Don't you love the horizontal stripes of plants, and the skillful mix of gold, green, silver and burgundy foliages? Look at all that color - and I took this photo on a dull, gray morning....Aren't those planters on top of the benches cool?

Part of the charm of this newly installed vertical greenness is that it's the showpiece of a beautiful little plaza that reminds me in materials and sleekness of New York City's Highline; the undulating benches, the contrast of warm wood and concrete. The vertical garden clothes one side of the plaza at the base of a metal-clad building. I'm thinking this must be part of the new Amazon campus....it's at the corner of Boren and John Streets, just west of the Seattle Times old flagship building, just down from 13 Coins.

It's so good it's worth a field trip. I even love how the vertical metal grid supporting the plants shows through, even though I'd guess it's not meant to be a design feature and won't show once the plants grow in more....

If someone from Amazon (if this really is part of your campus, and if so, thank you...) reads this, could you please send me the name of the designer and the plant list, and I'll post both here?....there are ferns and carex, liriope (I think) and artemisia....what are those ruby-colored that look almost like tradescantia, but I don't think they could be??

 

Natural Green Walls and Hanging Baskets - Summer at Snoqualmie Falls

I've been thinking about our great attraction to vertical green surfaces, in part because a vast green wall will be a feature of Seattle's first West Elm store - to open in early October across from Whole Foods on Denny.

And while manmade green walls are a pretty impressive dose of nature, especially when created indoors, I was reminded this week that there's nothing like a natural rock cliff sprouting ferns, mosses and native plants. Especially the green cliffs of Snoqualmie Falls, kept abundantly lush by the continual spray from the falls - which were plunging vigorously and noisily even this late in the summer when I'd expect the water pouring over to be diminished (not this wet summer, I guess...).

The haze on the photo is the intense mist generated from the falls, which slicks the sidewalks and drops the temperature about 10 degrees...behind the falls is the Salish Lodge, known for its spa and how, at Sunday brunch, the wait staff pours honey from high onto fluffy biscuits.

Isn't that the most beautiful green wall ever? We were on our way over Snoqualmie and then Blewett Pass on our way to Sleeping Lady Resort near Leavenworth - more on that special place in my next post. But of course we paused long enough to admire these hanging baskets, at the front of the Salish Lodge, planted in multi-colored impatiens skirted with a dangle of fuchsia....

 

Modern Courtyard

Modern garden design is so exciting and so unfortunately rare. We were in Portland over the weekend, and couldn't believe the very cool courtyard at the refurbished Hotel Modera on Southwest Clay Street. This freshly refurbished 1960's motor lodge is a celebration of sleek mid-century modern design. We visited for the restaurant Nel Centro, which has delicious southern Italian food, but were most impressed with the courtyard garden which features a luscious green wall, cut out squares of plantings, an inspired mix of hard and soft surfaces, and the coolest fire troughs I've ever seen.

Jane Hansen of Lango Hansen Landscape Architects was inspired by Columbia Gorge cliffs, and its true that the 64 foot long wall is rugged looking and thickly grown in with evergreen huckleberry, grasses and ferns. But the grid of rusted metal panels and the geometric design fits in beautifully with the sparely designed space. Take a look at this gorgeous wall - believe me, the courtyard at the Hotel Modera and the menu at Nel Centro are worth a jaunt south to Portland...